Maurice Raymond "Hank" Greenberg (born May 4, 1925) is an American business executive and former chairman and CEO of American International Group (AIG), which was the world's 18th largest public company and its largest insurance and financial services corporation.

He is currently chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. (C.V. Starr), a diversified financial services firm that is named for the founder of AIG, Cornelius Vander Starr. He joined C.V. Starr as vice president in 1960 and was given the additional responsibilities of president of American Home Assurance Company in 1962. He was elected director of C.V. Starr in 1965, chairman and chief executive officer in 1968 and continues in that role. Greenberg is the chairman of the board of directors and managing director of Starr International Company Inc., and chairman and chief executive officer of Starr International USA, Inc. (Starr International USA). C.V. Starr and Starr International USA are collectively known as the Starr Companies.[2] Greenberg was named the most connected business executive in New York by Crain's New York Business.[3]

In 1962 Greenberg was named by AIG's founder, Cornelius Vander Starr, as the head of AIG's failing North American holdings after working for Continental Casualty Company (CNA) in Chicago. In 1968 Starr picked Greenberg as his successor. Greenberg held the position until 2005, when he stepped down amid a major leadership scandal and was replaced by Martin J. Sullivan. He was subsequently the subject of New York State civil charges which are still unresolved.[5] Greenberg was a social friend and client of Henry Kissinger. In 1987 he appointed Kissinger as chairman of AIG's International Advisory Board.[6]

In 2008 he appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" criticizing the board of directors.[7] In an interview with Reactions magazine in March 2010, serialised over three parts, Greenberg stated that he did not condone AIG's strategy of selling non-core assets to pay back the United States government, and believed the terms under which AIG was provided access to bail-out funds needed to be renegotiated.[8]

In 1990 Greenberg was appointed by Zhu Rongji, then Mayor of Shanghai, to be the first chairman of the International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai. In 1994 Greenberg was appointed senior economic advisor to the Beijing municipal government. He was awarded “Honorary Citizen of Shanghai” in 1997. He is a member of the advisory board of the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management, a member of the International Advisory Council of the China Development Research Foundation and China Development Bank.

As chairman of The Starr Foundation, Greenberg oversees the disbursement of major financial support to academic, medical, cultural, and public policy institutions.[13] He is also the Chairman of The National Interest.[14] The Maurice "Hank" Greenberg Scholarship, administered in his name by the US-China Education Trust, supports the studies of ten Chinese students from low-income families each year at Yunnan University.[15] In February 2014 Greenberg led a group through Starr Investment Holdings that would acquire health insurance claims processor MultiPlan Inc for around $4.4 billion.[16]

Greenberg gained visibility when he clashed with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the Iranian president's denial of the Holocaust. On September 20, 2006, the Council on Foreign Relations hosted a small meeting of select council members with Ahmadinejad, who began by saying that we need to "continue studying" whether it happened. According to David E. Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for The New York Times,[17] Greenberg listened for fifteen minutes while Ahmadinejad continued talking about the Palestinians, World War II, and if the Holocaust killings had happened at all. Sanger writes, "Then Hank Greenberg, who had been on a slow boil through the evening, spoke up. He had been a young soldier at the end of the war, and participated in the liberation of the camps. 'I went though Dachau in the war and saw with my own eyes.'" President Ahmadinejad responded by asking if Greenberg was old enough to have participated in the liberation of Dachau.[18] "I'd like an answer regarding whether you think the Holocaust occurred," insisted Greenberg. To which Ahmadinejad replied "I think we should allow more impartial studies to be done on this."[19]

On March 15, 2005 AIG's board forced Greenberg to resign from his posts as chairman and CEO under the shadow of criticism from Eliot Spitzer, attorney general of the state of New York. On May 26, 2005, as part of a series of actions against the alleged criminal activities of large corporations, Spitzer filed a complaint against Greenberg, AIG, and Howard I. Smith (ex-CFO of AIG) alleging fraudulent business practice, securities fraud, common law fraud, and other violations of insurance and securities laws.[citation needed] After a subsequent investigation, however, all criminal charges were dropped, and Greenberg was not held responsible for any crimes. The State Attorney General's Office is still pursuing Greenberg in civil court, however, for many of these same allegations.[20] Greenberg settled on a $15 million fine for the accusations of fraudulent AIG financial positions.[citation needed] Spitzer did bring civil charges against Greenberg, though he dropped two of the six initial charges in September 2006.[21] Greenberg's attorney claimed vindication with the dropping of the two charges, but Spitzer's office maintained that the four remaining charges are the core of the State's original charges.[citation needed]

In November 2012 a Miami court dismissed Greenberg's claims that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York broke the fiduciary rights of AIG shareholders during the bailout rescue.[22] In late 2012 Greenberg's Starr International announced a lawsuit against the federal government. According to Reuters, the lawsuit seeks $55.5 billion in damages against the government stemming from the government's financial bailout in 2008.[23][24]

In July 2013 Greenberg filed a civil lawsuit against Spitzer alleging that Spitzer made repeated defamatory statements against him.[25] In December, 2013 Greenberg filed a complaint with the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics alleging that New York State Attorney GeneralEric Schneiderman had violated the state’s public officer’s law by making disparaging comments about him that could potentially taint a jury venire in any trial.[26]

^"AIG Failure Might Have Caused ‘Mass Panic’, Geithner Says". Case: Starr International Co. v. U.S., 11-cv-00779, U.S. Court of Federal Claims (Washington) (bloomberg.com). 7 Oct 2014. All this despite AIG being worth $15 billion at the time and the US government paying over $200 billion at the time.